Community Meetings

BIST’s March Community Meeting featured occupational therapist Michelle Jacob who discussed managing emotions and demonstrated HeartMath technology to our members.

Michelle Jacob

About Michelle Jacob:

Michelle has been an occupational therapist for ten years. She is also currently following her passion as a therapeutic coach, speaker, and author. You can find out more about her on her website, rewiringminds.com, YouTube Channel and Instagram feeds.

The Nervous System & Brain under Stress:

The autonomic nervous system is comprised of two branches that ideally remain balanced:

The sympathetic system causes the flight/fight/freeze response.

The parasympathetic system permits body restoration and digestion.

When under stress, brain signals travel to the midbrain (the site of emotional processing) instead of to the frontal cortex (the site of decision making).

Why do we respond to stress in this way?

Back when our ancestors were hunters and gatherers, there were many threats they had to be prepared to encounter. If they were being chased by a tiger, it was helpful to have the fight or flight instinct. While we rarely have to outrun tigers these days, the stress we experience still causes the autonomic nervous system to react in a similar way, preparing our bodies to fight, run away (flight) or freeze.

What about the heart?

The heart responds directly to stress. Have you ever noticed your heart beating faster when you’re feeling nervous or concerned? During times of stress, the heart tends to have a variable/chaotic rhythm. When relaxed, it beats in a more consistent and smooth pattern. It’s all about balance!

Managing Stress

Several factors that can help manage stress are:

Breath

Emotions

Thoughts

Sleep

Nutrition

Physical activity

We will explore the first three factors in more detail below.

Breath

Breath is affected by awareness, so paying attention can help you recognize how you are breathing (i.e. fast, slow, irregular). Having this awareness can help you to modify your breath to gain a sense of calm.

Here are three different methods of conscious breathing that you can try:

Abdominal Breathing

Abdominal breathing is a technique that brings attention to your abdomen by contracting the diaphragm.

Place a hand on your stomach to feel the rise and fall with the breath.

Sit tall and pay attention to your posture; this is so the diaphragm doesn’t get compressed.

Heart-Focused Breathing

Brings attention to the area of your heart as a stress reduction technique.

Breathe in carrying the breath through the heart area, to the stomach.

Breathe out from the stomach, through the area of the heart, and out your nose or mouth.

Rhythmic Breathing

Involves breathing to a count, or setting a rhythm to your own breath.

Breathe in to the count of four, and out to the count of six.

Alternatively, breathe in to the count of four, hold for four, and out to six.

If you would like, pick your own numbers. The out breath is generally slightly longer than the in breath.

Do what feels right to you!

Emotions

Emotions are central to the experience of stress, they are a reaction to something we perceive.

When under stress the body releases a hormone called cortisol. Cortisol regulates a body functions such as: metabolism, immune response, memory and sleep. Having a cortisol level that is too high can be bad for the body.

Here are some different methods of to help ease stress:

Notice and Ease

Close your eyes and think of a situation that you would consider to be 5 / 10 on the stress scale.

Notice what is happening in your body and the emotion that is tied to it. Name the emotion (i.e., frustration, anger, resentment).

Imagine the emotion in the area of your heart; breathe into your heart, into your stomach, and out of your heart.

With each exhale, think of the word ‘ease’ and feel the emotion melting away.

Breathe until the emotion has been neutralized and you no longer feel it. When ready, open your eyes.

Quick Coherence Technique

Quick coherence technique is a combination of heart-focused and rhythmic breathing, while including a lovely memory.

With your focus on your heart, breathe through your heart, into your stomach, and out through your heart.

Breathe in for a count of five, and out for a count of five.

Bring to mind a memory that you cherish (this can be of a person, place, or thing) and hold it in your heart.

Stay with the positive feelings in your heart. When ready, open your eyes.

Taking It All In

Hopefully, you are now feeling re-energized and ready to tackle the world; but you may be wondering, how often should these exercises be done? Michelle recommends doing one exercise three times a day; morning, afternoon, and night. Using these techniques can help form new neural pathways to keep you cool under stress, but that doesn’t mean that you need to feel stressed to do them!

In case breathing exercises aren’t yet your thing, consider starting a Gratitude Journal: Write and/or draw the things that are going well for you in your life while focusing on feeling grateful.

With the weather warming up, I feel as though it’s even more fitting to sign off by saying, breathe deep and keep cool everyone! – J

Julia Renaud is a very talkative ABI survivor with a passion for learning new things, trying new activities, and meeting new people – all of which have led her to writing this column. When not chatting someone’s ear off, Julia can be found outside walking her dog while occasionally talking to him, of course!

I’ve been getting lots of good feedback about the Quick Facts section, so this month I am condensing the recap in hopes of better tailoring the article to the entire brain injury community. For this post, there is no need to scroll to the bottom of the article, just find the headings you like and read on! Also, don’t forget to let us know what you think!

Our inspiring speaker and leader of the evening, Celia Missios.

Rolling into a new year or season is exciting and can usher in endless possibilities. For BIST’s January Community Meeting, we got our creative juices flowing to make Vision Boards. Celia Missios, ABI survivor, BIST board member, and founder of the self care website Reslientista, stopped by to teach us what vision boards are all about.

Discovering the power of manifestation – Celia’s Story:

While recovering from her ABI, Celia was looking for something to do to bring meaning to her life. She discovered scrapbooking and decided to create a scrapbook of her own about where she wanted her life to go and what she wanted it to look like. A couple of years later, while looking through her scrapbook, to Celia’s surprise, she realized that the things she had included in her books were coming to fruition!

One of the many vision boards of the evening.

What’s a vision board?

A collage of images, phrases, and quotes specifically made to help you manifest your life’s desires. They act as a reminder to envision your goals and take steps toward achieving them.

Why use one:

If you have dreams, goals, enjoy creative activities, or are interested in trying something new. If you like scrapbooking and/or motivational mind mapping, making a vision board is likely right up your alley.

Materials:

A canvas or thick paper backing (even cereal box cardboard will do!)

Scissors

Glue

Markers

A few magazines or pictures

Steps for making your own:

Assemble all of your materials.

Decide on the type of vision board you’d like to make:

Themed: Can help you hone in on a specific area of your life for a more focused manifestation. Examples: Nature, Career, Family, Travel, Design, etc.

Life: A smattering of everything and anything that resonates with you!

Flip through magazines or browse the internet to find pictures, words, or quotes that you are drawn to.

Get cutting and gluing, arranging your chosen clippings in a way that is pleasing to you.

Make sure to leave a blank space somewhere on your board. Here you will write, ‘This or something better’

Once complete, look, appreciate, and become inspired!

One of the BIST members how to arrange their board.

Work together:

Making vision boards as a group activity is quite fun! Not only can it help save time, but if you are working on a themed board, you can make your theme known to the group so they can send found pictures, words, or quotes your way.

Three Steps to using your vision board:

Step 1: LOOK!

Hang or prop up your vision board someplace you will see it every day (think bedside table, beside your television or computer, or, if you’re anything like me, near your fridge!)

Step 2: IMAGINE!

Spend a few moments every day looking at your vision board and imagineyourself experiencing all of the wonderful things on your board.

For example, if I have a picture of a person crossing the finish line of a race, I would envision running (or walking, or rolling – whichever suits you) toward the finish, and paying attention to how I feel while doing so.

Step 3: ACT!

Do something to align yourself with your vision.

Using the race example, I would go for a walk as a way of working toward my goal in hopes of manifesting the act of crossing the finish line.

Not feeling crafty? You could try this instead:

Make a Vision Board on Pinterest!

Prefer words to pictures? Make a word-only vision board by displaying words that resonate with you. Alternatively, write a vision journal where you describe what you would like more of in your life.

The BIST Social Learning Attendees holding up their (mostly) completed vision boards. Great work everyone!

My Experience:

I have been looking at my vision board every day since I have made it. It was really fun to make and I find it beautiful, inspiring to look at. While I’m still working on manifesting my dreams and desires, I’m definitely enjoying the process!

Julia Renaud is a very talkative ABI survivor with a passion for learning new things, trying new activities, and meeting new people – all of which have led her to writing this column. When not chatting someone’s ear off, Julia can be found outside walking her dog while occasionally talking to him, of course!

This month I’m adopting a new heading to make life a smidge easier. If you’re not feeling up to reading very much today and just want the key points, scroll to the bottom of this post for the QUICK FACTSsection. If you prefer the more detailed version, stick with me and jump right in!

BIST’s November Community Meeting was about essential oils (EO) and their role in recovery post-ABI with Rose-Anne Partridge.

Partridge is a best-selling author, former radio show host and iTV personality. She became interested in essential oils nearly two decades ago and took an even deeper dive after her son was diagnosed with a rare genetic condition. Partridge went on to become an advocate and wellness coach for those with special needs and is the founder of Real Life Changes, Families for HOPE Network, and Oily Masters. If that’s not impressive enough, she continued to broaden her knowledge about brain nutrition and obtained her Brainwave Optimization certificate.

Rose-Anne Partridge

What Are Essential Oils?

Essential oils are the ‘life blood’ of a plant. They are highly volatile which makes them very fragrant. Named after its plant of origin (i.e. lavender oil), they are termed essential because “represent the very essence of odour and flavour of a plant.” Oils can be taken from shrubs, flowers, trees, roots, bushes, fruit, rinds, resins, and herbs. Best when extracted through steam distillation, these oils consist of over 100 natural organic compounds and never go bad if they are pure.

A word of warning, the EO industry is not regulated. It is important to read labels, the word ‘pure’ on the label can mean only five per cent of the bottle’s contents are actually EO. This means that you could be paying for a bottle mostly composed of fillers. For this reason, Partridge suggests looking at the price. In this case, you get what you pay for.

Why Use Essential Oils?

People use EOs for their calming effects and because they find the aromas pleasing, but EOs can also support your body systems, including the skeletal, muscular, circulatory, endocrine, respiratory and immune. In addition, they can support your hormones, brain health, body weight health and emotions.

Partridge says EOs have the ability to penetrate through the cell membrane and transport oxygen and nutrients into the cell, helping you heal from the inside out (with the purest EOs). They can also penetrate the blood brain barrier in only a few seconds.

How To Use Essential Oils

Topical (rub on the skin)

For this method, test on a patch of your skin before committing! The best place to start is on the soles of your feet where the skin is the thickest, this will slow the diffusion of the EO into the skin. If your skin becomes red, coconut oil can help.

You can also apply EO behind knees, temples, and wrists throughout the day, all you need is one drop!

2. Ingest

Apparently using lime EO in guacamole is a game changer! You can find recipe ideas, here

3. Diffuse and inhale

This method can be most effective because doesn’t have to pass through the digestive system. Diffusers seem to be all the rage these days but if you want something portable, you can use an EO inhaler or a diffuser necklace.

How Do Essential Oils Work?

When you inhale an aromatic substance, the olfactory neurons in the nasal cavity register the scent to the olfactory bulb where it is then linked to the limbic system of the brain.

Patridge said that studies have shown that when EOs are applied topically, they reach the bloodstream in 26 seconds. When inhaled, they reach the heart, liver, and thyroid in three seconds!

The effectiveness of EOs depends on their purity as well as the oil itself. Partridge mentioned she finds certain oils to be more effective than other times. There are also different grades of oils:

EOs last for about three to six hours in a healthy body so, typically, they are reapplied every few hours.

Some EOs use carrier oils to slow the entry of the EO into your system, allowing it to last longer. These fatty oils have larger molecules that the EO must squeeze through to get into the skin. Examples of carrier oils are olive oil and coconut oil. Many EOs contain carrier oils, but if you’re looking to mix your own, you can buy fractional oil at your local health food store, which stays liquid as opposed to some cooking oils.

Why Are Some Essential Oils More Costly Than Others?

When looking into buying EOs, you’ll notice that not all EOs are created equally, especially when it comes to the price. The higher the grade/purity of the EO, the more you can expect to pay. Also, plants grown for EOs should to be harvested at their peak and some plants take much longer to grow than others, which can mean a higher cost. Finally, not all plants have the same amount of oil.

For example, to obtain one ounce of rose oil, you need 60,000 rose blossoms! Buying a blend of oils is one way to get a variety of EOs without needing to pay the high price for each oil individually. A blend of EOs can be much cheaper, but it also means that it won’t contain very much of the more costly oils.

Are Essential Oils Safe to Use?

Yes, as long as you use them safely! Here’s how:

Always test a patch of your skin with an oil before using a new EO and watch for any redness.

When using EOs on children, dilute the oil, children have more permeable skin, which absorbs the oil more quickly.

Never use EOs on the eyes, nose, ears, nor near the eyes.

Be careful with using citrus EOs if going in the sun (ie. lemon and grapefruit EOs can make you more prone to sunburn).

If you have seasonal allergies, you may react to the oil of plants that you are sensitive to.

Brain Health and Essential Oils

Partridge suggests getting the most bang for your buck by mixing 10 drops each of vetiver, lavender, and frankincense, with a carrier oil.

To help with your head injury symptoms, here are some other EOs that may help you out:

Exercise and Essential Oils

It’s well known that exercise is great for the brain, but did you know essential oils can help your body with exercise as well? If you need some motivation to get off the couch, peppermint oil which can boost your energy, relieve muscle soreness and help to decrease inflammation. To help reduce pain, try wintergreen and fir oil.

Always test a patch of your skin with an oil before using a new EO – watch for any redness!

Never use in the eyes, nose, ears, nor near the eyes.

EOs and brain health:

Most bang for your buck: Mix 10 drops each of vetiver, lavender, and frankincense, with a carrier oil (ie. coconut or olive oil – fractional carrier oil is best so your mix will stay liquid in the cold!).

Exercise and EOs: For motivation use peppermint oil to boost your energy, relieve muscle soreness, and help to decrease inflammation. To help reduce pain, try out wintergreen and fir oil.

Other:

Best when extracted through steam distillation.

Consist of over 100 natural organic compounds.

Never expire if they’re pure! Look at the price – you get what you pay for.

EOs last for around three to six hours in a healthy body so, typically, they are reapplied every few hours.

Julia Renaud is a very talkative ABI survivor with a passion for learning new things, trying new activities, and meeting new people – all of which have led her to writing this column. When not chatting someone’s ear off, Julia can be found outside walking her dog while occasionally talking to him, of course!

Did you know? Community Meetings are now called Social Learning

We’ve changed the name of our Community Meetings to Social Learning to reflect what this program is about: Socializing and Learning.

Want to Socialize?

The first part of our evening is about socializing – come out to meet new people or catch up with old BIST friends.

Want to Learn?

The second part is about learning! Listen to a guest speaker present on a topic relevant to brain injury, with time for a question and answer period.

Come for just part of the evening or stay for the whole thing – the choice is up to you!

Like our Community Meetings, our Social Learning sessions are open to everyone: people living with brain injury, families, friends, professionals and anyone who is interested in ABI.

As a brain injury survivor, these two enchanting words instantly grab my attention and get me craving to learn more. Lucky for me, this was the topic of BIST’s August Community Meeting, and guest speaker, Paul Hyman, had my full attention. Paul is a wonderfully accomplished champion for the brain injury community and he comes with a very impressive resume (check out his website if you don’t believe me). Among all of his accomplishments, he is most well known for being the president and founder of Brain Fitness International, an organization that helps those living with a brain injury to maximize their potential and live better lives.

Paul Hyman, Creator and CEO of Brain Fitness International

Paul began the evening with a quick one liner to explain what ‘brain health’ means to him: movement-based, multi-sensory brain stimulation. Put simply, this means that through movement and engaging your senses you are actually helping your brain. To elaborate upon this concept, Paul used the example of a student who was taking a class and, to the professor’s dismay, knitted throughout every lecture rather than taking notes. To the professor’s astonishment, this student ended up far exceeding the professor’s expectations come the completion of the course. Because knitting utilizes both sides of the body, and therefore, both hemispheres of the brain, the student was able to better absorb the information. For this reason, a pipe cleaner (the craft supply) was handed out to each community meeting attendee to fiddle with, using both hands, throughout the presentation. I have been using this pipe cleaner trick for about a week now and, when I do, I feel like I’m better at absorbing and recalling information; so, if it tickles your fancy give it a try!

The point that Paul chose to emphasize was that movement stimulates the brain. If you don’t believe me, lift your arms high in the air and shake your hands around. Just by moving, you are improving your capacity to learn, memorize, and recall information. If you’re currently struggling with brain injury and some sticky symptoms, this may be exhausting; but, as Paul says, movement is great for the brain – try it out and see how you feel.

Further to movement being a brain stimulant, a principle that has been known for many years now was also highlighted, ‘Neurons that fire together, wire together.’ This speaks to the neuroplasticity of the brain, how the brain is capable of forming new connections.

Using both body and breath to stimulate the brain is a fantastic way to facilitate recovery and also leaves you feeling great. We went through several activities over the course of the evening, and below I will share some of my favourites. I’ve included some fun names for each exercise to hopefully make them easier to recall.

Activities

Paul used to be a professional trombone player, to which he credits learning the importance of the breath. This first exercise is intended to help you become accustomed to taking slower and deeper breaths. All you need is a tissue! I call this one, the tissue trap:

The Tissue Trap:

Take a tissue and hold it up against a wall.

Exhale slowly and deeply onto the tissue so that it stays stuck to the wall without you needing to hold it in place. Do this as slowly as possible.

For added fun, you can time yourself or challenge others to see who can hold it the longest. (New party trick, maybe?)

Vary this exercise by blowing puffs of air instead of a steady stream. If you don’t have a wall handy, use another surface like a book, or hold the tissue between your fingers and watch the tissue fly as you control it using your breath.

This next exercise utilizes both hemispheres of the brain and helps them to work together. It is commonly referred to as eye tracking or lazy 8’s. For a more detailed explanation, click here, otherwise follow the steps below:

Eye Tracking/Lazy 8’s:

Outstretch your arm in front of you so it’s perpendicular to the floor.

Make the thumbs up sign with the hand of your outstretched arm.

Move your arm to draw a big, imaginary infinity sign (an 8 on its side, see above). Continue to do this motion.

While keeping your head still and facing forward, move your eyes to keep your gaze on your thumb as it moves around.

Try this out with your other arm and/or with your fingers interlaced.

Vary the direction of your figure 8. For example, instead of going up the middle every time, try going down the middle.

If you prefer, you may like to draw your lazy 8 on a piece of paper or white board. This can be particularly handy if you get dizzy from drawing them in the air.

Brain Gym PACE

PACE is a Brain Gym mnemonic for Positive, Active, Clear, and Energetic, which together, form a technique for warming up both your brain and your body to maximize your capacity to learn. Now, I’ve been trying to figure out how to describe this practice using only words for a while, but lucky for me, and let’s be honest, you too, I stumbled on this handy video that captures PACE in a straightforward way.

The BIST community meeting attendees really enjoyed Paul’s presentation as he was an excellent speaker with a very engaging presentation. I’ve been told that he will likely return for more presentations in the future so stay tuned!

In the mean time, don’t forget to check out the BIST calendar or all types of events.

I’m pretty sure I know what you’re thinking right about now: what on earth is face mapping? Those were my thoughts exactly, and to put this question at bay, Amee Le, occupational therapist and founder of Mindful Occupational Therapy Services came to this month’s BIST community meeting to explain what face mapping is all about.

Amee Le

Amee shared that she first learned about the enjoyable and artistic activity from seeing a face map made by information designer, Anna Vital. Amee liked the way that the visual representation, encompassing a picture and short bits of text, enabled her clients to reflect on their experiences. She also thought it was a great way for her to learn about her clients and the experiences that helped to shape them.

Making a face map is simple enough to do, and also fun. If you couldn’t make it to the community meeting, I encourage you to give face mapping a try on your own. I’ll do my best to take you through the process so you too can make a face map of your own.

What you’ll need:

A blank piece of paper

A picture of your face (bigger is better in this case)

Glue or tape (or if you’re tech savvy, like the fine employees at BIST, you can print the picture directly onto the sheet of paper)

Glue or tape the picture of your face onto the middle the blank piece of paper.

Above your picture, write the year that you were born and/or a goal that you have for your future.

Starting at whatever age you’d like, chronologically write down some milestones in your life around the picture with your corresponding age for each.

Draw a line from each milestone to a point on your face that you feel represents that milestone.

For example, I was very happy about buying my first car, so I linked that milestone up with the corner of my smile.

The milestones that you choose to highlight can all be related or have no theme whatsoever, it’s entirely up to you. Maybe you need to do a rough draft like I did to get your events in order – picking out milestones is a lot harder than I thought! Be creative and have fun with it.

Above, you’ll find a picture of my own face map that I made at the community meeting. I decided that my goal is to find a new hobby, so I wrote that at the top. My milestones don’t have any particular theme although I tried to include a variety of big moments, starting from age 12 through to 28. For me these big moments mostly revolved around my numerous concussions, as well as my academic and career achievements. Since my most recent concussion, my milestones revolve around perseverance, and celebrating the small victories that come with brain injury recovery. I also chose to write each milestone in a different colour to make my face map more visually interesting.

Amee was absolutely right in saying that face maps are an excellent way to get to know others. As much fun as I had making my face map, my absolute favourite part was meeting and learning about other members of the BIST community. Those sitting alongside me making their own face maps had a breadth of life experiences, some of which we had in common, others that we didn’t. I had the opportunity to learn about many of the triumphs and tribulations that shaped the present of those sitting around me. Most of all, I took with me the compassion that everyone shared with one another while putting our stories down on paper. We are all so fortunate to have such a wonderful community and support network through BIST, its staff, and its members.

Lastly, I’d like to point out that our face mapping meeting leader, Amee, is also blogger and creative mastermind! You can check out her wonderful blog here for more art project ideas.

Julia Renaud is a very talkative ABI survivor with a passion for learning new things, trying new activities, and meeting new people – all of which have led her to writing this column. When not chatting someone’s ear off, Julia can be found outside walking her dog while occasionally talking to him, of course!

During this sunny time of year, the days are long, the weather is warmer, and the flowers are wonderfully fragrant and in bloom. The true question is: do you take the time to smell the roses? Fortunately for us, Occupational Therapist, Yoga Tnstructor and the owner of Empowering Mind & Body, Kristina Borho, brought her mindfulness and encouragement to lead May’s Community Meeting about chair yoga.

A whole lot of positive energy filled the room at this month’s meeting and Kristina’s passion and compassion kept the group intrigued and asking for more yoga therapy tips and techniques. She encouraged all of us to live in the moment and to engage with body, mind, and breath during the session, as well as in our daily lives.

Intention Setting

I was lucky enough to be one of the many participants at this very special community meeting and I am happy to share my experience with you!

One of the first things that Kristina told each person to do was to set an intention for the session. Intention setting, as I learned, is a very powerful way to gain perspective on how you’re feeling, and to recognize where you may need to focus your energy in order to feel better. Like Kristina, I decided that my intention for the following hour would be to find patience – something that I am slowly but surely learning – and definitely something that does not seem to come easily to me; allow me to digress.

I am known as a goal-setter and I have the ruthless determination to persevere to achieve any goal I set my sights upon, regardless of how much work it will take. Since my most recent concussion three years ago, I have had to face the fact that, while goal setting can be very helpful for some things, recovering from post-concussion syndrome (PCS) is not really one of them. PCS, like many brain injuries, is an unpredictable road that has its ups and downs and twists and turns much like a roller coaster. It also has the capacity to turn even the most realistic of goals on their head; hence my need to force goal-setting to take the back seat (as difficult as that is), and instead to persevere at being patient with the path that I’m on!

Chair Yoga Exercises

I believe I can speak for the group when I say we all need more yoga, chair or otherwise, in our lives! For this reason, I would like to share some of my favourite chair yoga poses that Kristina coached us through. I have given each of them a name so they’re easier to remember.

As you go through the poses, keep in mind our word of the night, elongated. What I mean by this is, for each pose, sit nice and tall, like there’s a string attached to the top of your head, pulling your head toward the sky and keeping your spine nice and long. Also, try to remember to think about the intention that you set earlier!

Down to Earth Neck Stretch:

Sit tall in a chair with your feet flat on the ground, and your arms dangling at your side

Breathe in while turning your head to look over your right shoulder

Breathe out while tilting your head down to look at the floor while keeping your head turned to the right

Switch sides

Shoulder Rolls:

Sit tall in a chair, place your fingertips lightly on your shoulders

Rotate your shoulders in backward circles

Rotate your shoulders in forward circles

Try to coordinate your breath if you can – breathe in when your shoulders rise, and out when they fall (this part can be tricky!)

Side-to-Side Slide:

Sitting upright in your chair, place your right hand on your right hip, breath in

As you breath out, side-bend your body to the left and toward the floor

Inhale as you come back to centre

Switch sides

Meditation

Kristina concluded the session with a brief body-scan meditation, thoughtfully conducted to take the mind away from all of the stressors of daily life, and instead to bring focus to various parts of the body, one by one. Doing a body scan is a great way to connect with how your body is feeling. I find it especially helpful in understanding the severity of my PCS symptoms and use it to check in with how my brain and body are handling the tasks that I am asking of them.

Generally, a simple way to compose a body-scan is to either go from head to toe, or the other way around. This helps to relax the mind while ensuring that you aren’t skipping over any important body parts that may require your attention. Your meditation can be as long or as short as you want, the key is to remember to remain relaxed and non-judgmental. If your mind drifts away to a thought unrelated to the task at hand, simply acknowledge that your attention has drifted, and regain focus on your body scan. At first this may seem really difficult, but try not to get discouraged!

With time and practice (in my case, a whole lot), you will begin to notice that your ability to keep your attention on the meditation will improve.

Collective Energy

I was able to feel how Kristina’s yoga therapy was able to change the energy in the room from buzzing and a bit chaotic, to happy and relaxed. By the end of the meeting, the group shared a true sense of togetherness, and isn’t that so important in brain injury recovery!

If you or someone you know is living with a brain injury, remember that these things can take time to heal, and you are never in this alone. So, take the days as they come and on your next walk or roll, don’t forget to take in that fresh air, and take the time to smell the roses!

Next Community Meeting: Wednesday, June 27, 6 – 8 p.m.

Everyone is welcome!

Julia Renaud is a very talkative ABI survivor with a passion for learning new things, trying new activities, and meeting new people – all of which have led her to writing this column. When not chatting someone’s ear off, Julia can be found outside walking her dog while occasionally talking to him, of course!

Spring has finally sprung which has hopefully brought you some pep in your step or zeal in your wheels to feel better during this chilly year! Bringing some extra encouragement to April’s BIST Community Meeting and to shed some light on alternative treatments that he used to heal his brain and body, was teacher, author, motivational speaker, and brain injury survivor, Anthony Aquan-Assee.

Anthony’s Story

Anthony began by telling the harrowing story of his first brain injury. In 1997, Anthony was a middle school teacher and coach of the school football team. He was excited about his team qualifying for the city finals and was anxious to get to football practice to prepare them for their upcoming big game. On his ride to practice, Anthony, an avid motorcycle rider, was struck by a car, sending him and his motorcycle flying. This landed Anthony at the beginning of a long road to recovery.

The paramedics arrived at the scene of the accident to find Anthony unconscious and in a very grave state. He was then airlifted to St. Michael’s Hospital, where he would require numerous extensive surgeries, including: neurosurgery, heart, lung, general, vascular, knee, throat, and plastic surgery.

It was an emotional and trying time for his family and friends who were uncertain if Anthony would ever wake up from the coma that had kept him unresponsive for two weeks, and if he did, what his quality of life would be post-injury. His doctors were worried that Anthony could remain in a vegetative state for the rest of his life.

Quote included in Anthony’s latest book, Rethink Redo Rewired

He started with opening his eyelids, and progressed from there, giving himself and his family hope with every gain, no matter how small. Anthony graduated to a rehabilitation centre where he worked tirelessly to regain control of his body and mind. Eventually, Anthony was able to return to work as a school teacher, but his brush with brain injury didn’t end there.

Sixteen years later, Anthony was struck in the head by a malfunctioning automatic gate which left him with a concussion. Fatigue, dizziness, brain fog, memory loss, and sleep problems were only a few of the symptoms that he dealt with on a daily basis. Unfortunately, these symptoms persisted bringing with them anxiety and frustration. When his doctors prescribed “drugs, drugs, and more drugs” to help, Anthony began to question whether there was a better method to spur his recovery.

Alternative Treatments Anthony Found Effective

*From the top, Anthony stressed that while these treatments worked for him, each person is different; therefore, everyone’s experience is different. Prior to trying any of the following alternative modalities, he encourages you to discuss any treatments that you are considering with your doctor.*

Anthony realized over the course of his recovery that, for him, the prescribed medications were only acting as a bandage solution rather than getting to the root cause of the problem. He disliked being on the same medications as he had been on previously, after his first brain injury, and felt that there must be a better way.

This is when he turned his attention to alternative strategies and treatments, which, as he would learn, had the power to get to the root cause of the problem rather than masking it. Furthermore, alternative strategies “provided the necessary conditions for the body to heal itself”, and, as an added bonus, they came with no side effects!

The following is a list of techniques that Anthony found effective in his recovery that he thought might be helpful to share:

Neurofeedback

Laser Therapy

Kangen Water

Fun, Brain-Training Resources

For those of you dealing with a brain injury and looking for a way to train your brain, Anthony has included links to a bunch of online activities and games ranging from math, to art, to optical illusions on his website.

Julia Renaud is a very talkative ABI survivor with a passion for learning new things, trying new activities, and meeting new people – all of which have led her to writing this column. When not chatting someone’s ear off, Julia can be found outside walking her dog while occasionally talking to him, of course!